SAN ANTONIO (Ticker) -- Tim Duncan, a 67 percent free throw
shooter, made a pair from the line with 3.7 seconds left to lead
the San Antonio Spurs past the Portland Trail Blazers, 81-80, in
a matchup of Western Conference powers.

The Trail Blazers led 80-79 with eight seconds left when Rasheed
Wallace missed an 11-footer. David Robinson got the rebound and
found a streaking Duncan for a possible breakaway dunk. But
Portland's Greg Anthony got enough of Duncan to send him to the
line with the game in the balance.

"I just got out there and when I got the ball I was looking
around and I didn't know what to do," Duncan said. "He came
from behind and knocked the ball away. But luckily, he fouled
me."

Duncan, who finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds, sank both
free throws for an 81-80 lead and the Spurs survived Wallace's
last-second 3-point attempt that was off the mark.

"I just missed it," Wallace said of his last-second attempt. "It
was a shot we got whether we wanted it or not."

Robinson had 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists for San
Antonio, which has won eight straight home games and 21 of its
last 25 overall.

"Early in the year we had a long way to go," Robinson said.
"Now we don't have so far to go, but we are still improving.
Our chemistry we are still working on, but this was the biggest
win for us."

Wallace finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds for Portland,
which has dropped four of its last six.

"Tonight was a great game," said Portland coach Mike Dunleavy.
"It was intensely fought. Unfortunately, we ended up on the
wrong side. Both teams fought hard down to the wire.
Unfortunately, they got it down the stretch."

San Antonio led 67-57 with 8:29 left in the contest and appeared
to have the game under control. But Wallace sank a 3-pointer
and a five-footer around a free throw by Rose to cut the deficit
to six. Two free throws by Arvydas Sabonis with 7:15 to go got
Portland within 68-64.

Anthony made a free throw with 6:57 remaining to get the Trail
Blazers within three before Duncan ended the Spurs' two-minute
scoreless stretch with a free throw with 5:50 left.

San Antonio still held a comfortable 77-70 lead with 90 seconds
to go. But Wallace made two free throws six seconds later and
drained a 3-pointer 13 seconds thereafter. Mario Elie committed
a turnover for San Antonio and Damon Stoudamire gave Portland a
78-77 advantage with a 3-pointer from the left corner.

The Trail Blazers appeared to take control when Wallace made two
from the line for an 80-77 lead with 45 seconds to play. But
Robinson hit a layup 13 seconds later, setting up the dramatic
finish.

"The greatest part about tonight is when Portland hit the two
3-pointers back-to-back," said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. "It
showed great character for us not to drop our heads. We weren't
ready to die. I really applaud their character."

Portland made only 33 percent (24-of-73) of its shots from the
field but managed to hang tough by making 27-of-35 free throw
attempts and half of its 10 shots from beyond the arc.